


Runner Runner

by StillKickingIt



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Runaways (Comics), X-Men - All Media Types, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Demons, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillKickingIt/pseuds/StillKickingIt
Summary: The Runaways with another Member added. Mac Teller never thought his parents were evil but he learned that people can hide their true nature. He learns of his demonic nature and has to learn to tame the beast.





	1. Chapter 1

Mac Teller was not at all ready to leave for his parent’s weird friends. He didn't even like any of the other kids. Gert was rude, Chase was a jock, Molly was a baby. Alex was such a little nerd honestly. Mac didn't feel like he belonged at all. He was gay.  
He looked into the mirror to see his reflection. He was tall, about 6’1. He had brown hair that was short and had green eyes.  
"Mac Let’s go!" Kara Teller yelled as she knocked at her son’s door.  
"Oh my god Mom! I have to get my hair right!"  
. "Are you putting on make-up? Seriously Mac this isn't your date night get out here." His father growled at him.  
"Whatever I guess I’ll just wear my bucket hat." Mac growled as he popped his head out of his room grabbing the hat.  
"Isaac why is your son wearing tie dye ?" Klara laughed. Isaac looked at his son wearing a bucket hat and tie dye shirt and jean shorts.  
Kara hugged Isaac and he kissed her cheek. "I’m so proud we raised a hippy like ourselves," She cried.  
"It’s all your fault!" Mac playfully slapped his mother. "We have to go now guys, we’re always late..."

Wilder Residence.  
Mac sighed as he entered the huge manson. The Wilders always wanted it to be bigger and better. His own parents had a huge estate that was warm and cozy. His Parents were really rich and but they were pretty humble. He looked at all the kids and their parents that stood across the room.  
"Mac!" Shouted a little girl's voice. Mac turned to see Molly Hayes running towards him with her arms wide open. “Hey girl! How are you! Do you have any boys you're crushing on?"  
"No silly, boys are still icky," Molly giggled as she hugged the him, “Except you!”  
"Oh my god Karolina?" Mac asked as he walked over to Karolina. "You look hot. I think I’m in love,”  
Karolina; that's the only thing that ever grew on her. "Uh, not really." She smiled as she looked up at Karolina.  
"ALEX! Get down here, please! We have company!" Mrs. Wilder called at the stairs. About two minutes later, Alex trudged downstairs. He looked his usual grumpy self.  
"Alex! What's happenin', brother!" Chase Stein greeted as he spotted Alex Wilder walking down the stairs.  
"Hey, Chase." Alex greeted back.  
"Hey buddy." Mac nodded with a smirk.  
"Hmm what a motley crew of odd balls we are." Gertrude Yorkes said as she crossed her arms.  
"Sorry we're late all!" Mr. Minoru shouted as he entered the house; his wife and daughter in tow. The bags in his hands were held tightly in his arms. "Big pile up on cliffside!" He spotted Alex. "Alex! You remember our daughter Nico, don't you?"  
"Holy..." Alex whispered. Mac rolled his eyes at the blatant ogling that Alex was doing. Apparently Alex now had a thing for goth emo chicks by the looks of Nico’s outfit. She looked like a 19th century whore to Mac put as he had no interest in women he guessed that he would never really see the appeal. Nico was holding some dvd that Alex had given her but Mac couldn't care less.  
"Nico!" Karolina suddenly shouted from behind Mac. She ran up to Nico and tugged slightly at her outfit. "God, you are so hot. Where'd you get that outfit?"  
"Oh, thanks Karolina. Actually, I made it." Nico smiled.  
"Gert!" Molly called as she popped from behind Trini. "Could you talk to me about girl stuff?"  
"Under no circumstances." Gert didn't even flinch.  
"Molly honey that’s what your GBF is for," Mac chuckled as he linked elbows with her.  
"Well, now that we're all here, I believe the adults will be retiring to the library for a few hours." Mr. Wilder stated.  
"Why don't you kids hang out in the game room for a bit." Mrs. Wilder placed her hand on Alex's shoulder.  
Alex shrugged and walked off.

The Upstairs  
Mac was sitting in a comfy lazy boy. Nico yawned.  
"What she said." Gert pointed at Nico. Mac barely even glanced at them.  
"Listen, I know we'd all rather be somewhere else right now, but we're stuck here for at least another hour. So we might as well try to amuse ourselves." Alex stated.  
"So what's the plan, man?" Karolina asked.  
"Please be beer, please be beer please be beer..." Chase whispered as he grabbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Molly giggled.  
"I’m with Chase." Mac said as he grabbed his soda and slurped. "I’d rather forget this day."  
"I have an idea." Alex perked. "Let's go spy on our 'rents."  
Mac looked at Alex. "How?"  
"Mac's right," Nico agreed, "Our parents always lock themselves so they can...you know, whatever."  
"Maybe," Alex stood up, "but my father's obsessed with surveillance, and he built all sorts of secret passageways throughout the house to keep an eye on stuff."  
"Gross." Gert said to Alex.  
"Oh, he's not a peeping tom or anything, just paranoid about security." Alex assured as he pushed behind one of the games. The console slid to the side, allowing a door to open. "My dad doesn't know I know, but I found this when I was snooping for Christmas presents a few months ago."  
They got up and went to the bookshelf and Alex pulled one out revealing a secret passage. Mac was at the front of the group with Alex and Nico.  
"Okay," Gert finally said as she pointed at the passageway. "Lame secret passage way it is."  
"Oh my god! Where are we going!" Trini blinked.  
"I don't know but anywhere’s better than here." Gert said as they walk to the passage. Mac shrugged and kept walking. He really couldn't seem to care and he was really bored.  
"At least this is better than playing scrabble all night." He said quickly as they walked towards the passageway.

 

Hidden Passage

"This is like the Haunted Mansion at Disney...only boringer." Molly said as the group walked through the corridors, she held Mac’s hand tightly.  
"Don’t worry honey once we get back out we can watch a movie.” Mac said as they all trudged forward.  
"Yeah, can we watch a princess movie?" Molly asked.  
"Yeah okay." Mac nodded his head.  
"Shut it Mac." Alex growled. "These walls aren't soundproof.So can you just be quiet."  
"What about those windows, bro? Wouldn't they be able to see us?" Chase asked as he pointed at the large windows to the left of the group.  
"No, they're actually one way mirrors. Or is it two way? I always forget." Alex whispered.  
"Ugh shoot i’m not a fan of this."  
"Can I hold on to you, Alex?" Nico asked as she grabbed Alex's hand, "My night vision stinks."  
"Uh, yeah sure." Alex blushed.  
And Mac could see that Alex looked quite pleased that Nico was hanging on to him. Mac had a sinking feeling within his stomach. They got closer to the mirrors only to see a very strange sight.  
"Mac?" Molly whispered. "Are you okay?"  
"Huh?" He asked as she looked down at her. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine honey but I don’t know what’s going on.."  
"Very well, Ladies and Gentlemen. If we're all satisfied with Mr. and Mrs. Dean's plans for our off world enemies, I suggest we move onto the Pride's final order of business." Mr. Wilder said outloud.  
"Is that my mom and dad?" Chase asked.  
Mac searched for his parents but while all the other parents were there she could only see two creatures that seemed demonic in nature.  
"The 'Pride'?" Gert asked as she leaned in to see better. Mac carefully peered over her shoulder.  
"Check out those costumes." Nico pointed out.  
"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Alex asked softly.  
"Yeah," Chase nodded as he placed an elbow on Trini's shoulder, "Our parents are totally gay."  
"No..." Alex adjusted his glasses. "Our parents are superheroes."  
"Dear, would you bring out our guest of honor, please?" Mr. Wilder asked kindly.  
"With pleasure, Love." Mrs. Wilder walked over to an old bookcase and yanked it open;of course they would have another secret door revealing a young girl who was dressed in tight clothes. She had blue hair and looked scared.  
"Whoa, who's that piece?" Chase asked. He had that look most guys got when looking at a young woman.  
"This better not turn into a massive orgry or I’ll never be able to look my parents in the eye again." Mac mumbled.  
"Okay, this is starting to get a little eyes wide shut..." Gert cocked a brow.  
"Karolina, I think you should take Molly back to the Game Room...now." Alex ordered.  
"But I wanna see the Superheroes! Let me stay Mac." Molly protested. Mac shook his head, “Sorry honey this is an adult conversation.”  
Mac couldn't believe the crap he was seeing. The creatures that seemed to be his parents werestranghe to look at. The woman was a deep purple and wore a full black gown. Her fingers were claw like. The man was even less human looking. His face wasnt at all like a mans. It was black skinned and had slanted red eyes that led into canine like teeth.  
"Is that a working girl, Wilder?" Mr. Yorkes asked. "I thought you and your wife only handled drugs and gambling in this town?"  
"Whores never seemed your style," the creature offered with a sarcastic growl.  
"Local matters are none of your concern, Yorkes. Nor yours , Teller or should I say Aamon? I do not question what you do with the souls you steal?" Mr. Wilder grabbed the young girl by the hand and led her towards the center of the room.  
"Did...did he just say drugs?" Alex whispered.  
"Alex, what if they're not the good guys?" Nico looked over at him.  
"At this point I kinda assumed that but guys what the heck are my parents? Are they Mutants?" asked mac. Chase seemed to be looking directly at where his parents were sitting.  
“Probably Mac, Maybe their aliens." Gert agreed. "I've known our parents were evil since I was FIVE. This perverted little gathering only confirms it."  
"Speak for yourselves, Freaks. My parents are practically saints." Chase defended.  
"Relax, you three. We still don't know anything. Maybe that girl is some runaway they rescued." Alex guessed.  
"Dr. Hayes, will you and your husband kindly restrain the girl?" Mr. Wilder ordered.  
"Already on it." Mrs. Hayes and her husband's eyes glowed a light pink as the girl's arms were pulled to the side of her body and her head slightly tilted back. She was frozen in place.  
"W-What are you-?" The girl started.  
Mac’s heart was racing. .  
"Does your machine need time to charge, Stein?" Mr. Wilder looked at Mr. Stein.  
"It runs on self-replicating string of unstable molecules. We're ready when you are." Mr. Stein confirmed.  
"Thank you, Now, Mr. Minoru, the floor is all yours." Mr. Wilder announced.  
Mr. Minoru opened a large red book and began to read from it. "Antin Krek Varin."  
"They ARE bad guys." Trini stated.  
"Don't worry, Trini." Alex assured. "They're using their real names. If they were villians, they'd be calling themselves, Red Skull...and...and Electro."  
"Tellers, you may now take what we need." Mr. Wilder stepped aside as the creatures that seemed to be his parents stepped up.  
"Kara and I are always ready to imprison a soul." His parents raised their hands and their fingernails extended into knives . they both drilled down into the girl’s chest and she screamed.  
"What the hell!" Chase gasped.  
“Mac what the hell are they?" Nico blinked.  
“I have no freaking clue!” Mac whispered. "This is a hell of a way to find out I’m most likely adopted!"  
Kara pulled her fingers out of the dead girl's chest. "Nothing energizes like stealing a soul."  
Nico Screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

"What was that?" Mrs. Stein asked as she looked at the one way mirror.

"That noise..." Mr. Stein walked forward. "It sounded like screaming."

"We need to get the heck out of here." Mac grabbed Chase and Gert's sleeves. "get back to the game room!"

"Dear, you better check on the children." Mr. Wilder ordered as he looked back at his wife; who was already heading towards the door. The other member's of the pride looked around worried. 

"RUN!" Chase shouted as he grabbed Mac and Gert's sleeve and began to run down the corridor; being careful not to hurt each other. Once they got out of the corridors, Alex closed the door shut. They were all breathing hard while Chase scrambled around them room looking for something.

"What happened?" Molly asked quickly.

"W-we need a distraction!" Chase shouted; completely ignoring Molly.

"Here!" Alex tossed A Twister game at Mac. He quickly pulled the top off and threw the continants on the floor. Nico got down and spread the mat out; putting the spinner near the edge. They all rushed around the game except Karolina and Molly.

"Wait, what's going on?" Karolina asked in a panic.

"Get on the board now Karolina!" Mac said jumping on the mat on the mat.

"Yay! Twister!" Molly shouted as she spotted everyone trying to tangle themselves up. She raced towards them and jumped; landing on Chase and Mac. 

"Stop it!" Karolina shouted.

"Get off! You're hurting me!" Gert pushed at Chase. Mac sighed, "Ugh this might be the worst idea yet."

The door suddenly swung open; revealing Mrs. Wilder.

"Oh, hey, mom!" Alex waved.

She gave him a wry smile. "Alex, is...is everything alright up here?"

"Uh, yeah, totally." He lied, "We were just fooling around with one of your old game." He then mummbled. "And you think Vice City is dirty." He then got up; letting everyone collapse. "Why? Is everything alright with you?"

"Of course, it's just...we heard screaming and we were afraid..." Mrs. Wilder trailed off. "Well, I'm glad you're all okay! Anyway, your parents and I are almost done with the last draft of the new fund raising charter. We'll be up in a few. Try not to break anything expensive before then?"

"No problem, Mrs. W!" Chase waved as he stood up.

The door slammed shut and everyone dropped the act.

"Oh, God.. Is anyone else dying right now." She leaned back agaisnt the couch.

"I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life!" Gert exhasperated.

"You think she bought it, Alex?" Nico looked over at Alex, who was holding his stomach.

"I don't know." He admitted. "I think...I think I'm gonna puke."

"Okay, will someone please tell me wha tthe hell's going on?" Karolina asked from the floor. "What did I miss down there?"

"Why'd we stop twistering?" Molly asked from the same spot.

"Gert, take Molly to the bathroom or something." Alex demanded.

"Why?" She looked at him.

"So we can fill in Karolina what happened." He whispered.

Gert cocked a brow. "But this involves Molly's parents, too you know."

"But she's just a kid." Alex protested.

"She's old enough to know that her parents are evil!" Gert retorted.

"Um, hellooooo!" Molly Said as she put her hands on her hip. "I know what you guys are talking about!"

"You...you do?" Gert blinked.

"Duh! S...E...X...I'm not a baby!" Molly placed her hands on her hips.

Mac started laughing and Gert looked up at Alex.

"Fine," She caved, "Come on, kid. Let's powder our noses."

"Alright," Karolina said loudly. "What the hell is going on?"

Nico placed her hand on Karolina's shoulder. "Karolina, you... you better sit down. I don't know how to tell you this, but-."

"Mac's parents just killed some chick with their weird fingers." Chase blurted out,

"WHAT!" Alex whipped around.

"Seriously, Chase what about the fact that all your parents were watching and Nico's helped?" Mac growled. "It wasn't just MY parents!It was all of our parents! You saw!"

"Dude, I don't know what we saw!" Chase barked. "They stabbed an innocent girl in the heart!"   
"Stabbed?" Karolina whispered.

"Well, we don't know if that girl was innocent, right?" Nico trailed off confused.

"Are you guys high!" Alex snapped. "Our parents are SuperVillains!"

"Actually, I think he might be right, Karolina." Nico agreeed as they sat down.

"You mean like...Doctor Doom?" Karolina stared off into space in a daze.

"Yeah, only times Twelve!" Alex hollered. "They said they were a part of something called 'The Pride'. Whoever they are, we have to stop them."

Mac crossed her arms. "I'm sorry but what are five teenagers and a little girl gonna do to stop them?"

"He's right," Chase pointed, "You expect us us to get a few guns and go all Menedez Brothers on 'em?"  
Mac smirked. "of course I'm right. Sorry but our oarensts are boviously pretty good at the whole evil thing so it would seem that confronting them would lead to uor demise."

"How do we know they won't kill us?" Nico finished.

"Battle stations, Kiddies." Gert said as she opened the door; Molly behind her. "Something wicked this way comes."

"Hey gang!" Mr. Dean popped his head in and waved. "Don't worry, the old timers are finally packing it in for the night."

Then the adults walked in; carrying a large metal trunk.

"Gertrude, could I get one of your strapping male friends to give us a hand talking this out to the car?" her father asked.

"I guess," Gert shrugged. "What's in that thing?"

"Oh, you know, just some stuff the Wilders were nice enough to donate for our auction next month." Mr. Yorkes answered.

"Um, Nico and I can get that, ." Alex said; his voice was squeaking. his fear previlent.

"Yeah, I may not be one of the boys, but playing the tuba in the marching band has given me amazing upper body strength!" Nico sounded just as uneasy.

"Remember to lift with your knees, Sweetie." Mrs. Minoru reminded.

"Yes, we don't want anyone getting hurt tonight." Mr. Wilder advised.

"I'ts true I am weak guys." Mac said. His parents rolled their eyes at him  
Chase looks at him and whispers, "Should we try to like.. I dont't know defeat our parents?"  
"There's no way in hell we'd be able to take them out. They'd kill us. I say we to forget this thing ever happened."

"We just saw a girl get murdered and your just gonna blow it off as if it was nothing?" Gert said in a hushed tone. "You guys, our parents are murderers! They deserve to be taken down."

"What happened to your wrist Mac?"

"What." He looked down to see a scare in the shape of the number seven forming. "Nothing happened I don't know why it's like that."

"Do you cut our something-" He grabbed his hand and pulled it away from his side looking at it.

"No-?"

"Let it go, Chase." Gert yanked his arm away from Chase's grip.   
"Hey, guys," Alex said as he popped in the room. "I need your E-mail addresses."

"Why?" Mac blinked. He had no intention of have a group email. Alex then explained that he wanted to discuss the action the group would take. Mac gave him his and quickly took off with his parents. He had a sinking feeling that this was not over in the slightest

Teller Estate

"Mac when are you going to be done?" Karolina asked as she grabbed mac's second bag from the floor. The two lived close so when Alex emailed them to meet Mac had asked Karlolina for a ride.   
"I need to be prepared for the chance I might meet a hot guy." Mac stuffed more clothes into his second bag along with his ring his parents gave him as a birthday gift. Mac's parents ]had left to go into the city and stay in the apartment as they had an early meeting at the company they owned.

"Oh, come on." Karolina picked up another pair of short shorts that he loved so much. "Two is enough. I only have two."

"Fine." Mac agreed.

"I love your pink shorts by the way." Karolina grabbed her own bags as they got ready to head out. "They look so cute on you."

"Aren't they? I love how cute but comfy they are." Mac said as he grabbed his other bag. "Let's go."

The Griffith Observitory  
1:03 a.m.

"Is anyone else kind of pissed that we have evil parents but we don't have powers?" Mac asked. Alex rolled his eyes and looked annoyed.

"Hey!" The three of them turned to see Chase with an annoyed look, "Short bus, Why didn't you just say meet at the Planitarium? It took me an hour to figure out where this stupid James Dean Memorial was!" Chase exclaimed as he stomped towards the group.

"It was Karolina's idea." Mac answered.

"Yeah," Karolina said softly. "It's pretty much the same distance from my house. Sorry."

"Oh, no." Chase turned his anger of as he looked to Karolina. "It was great. I was just messin' with you, Karolina."

"I don't know why Nico's not here yet." Alex said; a little worried."She replied to the forward, right?"

"Oh god Alex She's fine." Mac said crossing his arms. He was sure if he was late that they wouldn't have cared.

"But you don't think she-?"

"I'm here! I'm here!" Nico shouted as she walked through the trees,"Sorry, Gert doesn't have her permit yet, so I had to give her a ride."

"And I lost my stupid glasses. So we had to stop and pick up contact solution and-."

"Whatever," Alex snapped, "Was everyone able to sneak out okay?"

"My parent's weren't even home, they have an apartment in the city that they go to for early meetings," Mac nodded.

"My parents are practically unconsious." Gert added. "Satanic retuals must really wear a person down."

"I still feel bad about leaving Molly out of the loop." Nico sighed. "I hope she's...you know..."

"Um, is anyone else having a hard time proceccing this?" Karolina blurted out. "I mean, no matter what you guys saw down there , it sounds like our parents have been leading double lives for...years. How is that possible?"

"What? How is it possible that our parents lied to us?" Gert cocked a brow. "Um, let's see, Santa, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, um, God?" Gert counted them off on her fingers. "You're the prettiest girl in school. This won't hurt a bit. Your face will freeze like that." 

"Everything's going to be alright." Alex finished.

"I thought my parents were peace loving hippies!" Mac said, "They lisen to John Lennin and Janice Joplin!"

"So what do we do now?" Nico asked.

"Well, whatever it is, we should decide as a group." Alex said as he scratched the back of his head."But I say we call the cops. They'll put our parents to the vault or wherever they hold the Sinister Six-types these days."

"Alex, if the Pride really is a group of... of Bad Guys, like you think it is, how come I never read about them in my history of Masked crime elective?" Karolina asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't they have fought the Avengers or something?" Mac added.

"Exactly, just because they dress up in stupid outfits doesn't mean they're super terrorists." Chase barked.

"It's called a secret society, boys and girls." Gert answered. "Like the Freemasons? Am I the only one who saw, From Hell?"

"But if I accuse my mom and dad of something, and it turns out they didn't really do it, it could still ruin their careers. That happens all the time in Hollywood." Karolina stated.

"Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I realize it was probably just some kind of lame performance piece. We should forget that we ever saw it and go back to our lives."

"I don't know what to think you guys.." Mac said looking at his feet.

""Live in denial much, Chase?" Gert glared. "I say we get the LAPD on the horn and narc these psycho's out."

"I agree...which means we're two for and two against." Alex announced. "Mac?"

"Ahh well Nico you can have my vote..." They all looked at him with disbelief. "What I don't know guys!"

"Okay, you're the tiebreaker, Nico." Alex finalized.

"Um… I don't know, really." She twisted her lips in response. "Were talking about our parents. I mean, mine aren't perfect, but they're not monsters. They never were to me, anyway." She lowered her voice. "But I keep thinking about that girl. She wasn't much older than us, you know? If nothing else, we should try and get to the bottom of this for her." She looked back up at Alex. "So I say…make the call."

"WEAK!" Chase shouted; causing Nico and Karolina to jump. He wiggled a finger in her face. "You're just voting that way 'cause you want to suck face with Alex."

"I do not!" Nico denied.

Alex looked hurt.

"I mean..." Nico started.

"Forget it, Nico." Alex waved his hand back. "Paul, a little dialing music..."

"You're making a huge mistake, Bro!" Chase shouted.

Mac placed his hand on his forehead. "This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"Hi, um, I'd like to report a murder..." Alex started.

"I mean, I wouldn't like to. But-." Alex was cut off. He sighed, "Well, it's complicated...You gotta understand. We're not talking about a bunch of Gang-bangers doing a drive-by here. My parents...and their friends. They're a part of The Pride. They're like Dark Wizards...and...and Mad Scientists...and-." Alex was cut off again. He gripped the phone. "No! God, please! I swear I'm not lying!"

"Told you!" Chase snapped.

"Geuss we're on our own." Alex put his phone away.

"We can't just give up!" Nico cried. "The police will have to believe us if we bring them some kind of evidence!"  
“Uhh Sorry do any of you have anything on our parents other than what we saw a couple hours ago?” Mac said.

"Exactly," Chase agreed. "What are we gonna show them? Our parents' Haloween masks?"

"No, more like a body." Gert replied.

"Yes," Nico pointed. "Where's the trunk now?"

"Trunk?" Chase blinked. "What trunk? Why does it feel like I accidently skipped a chapter?"

"Gert's dad probably already dumped it into the tarpits or somthing, Nico." Alex replied.

"Actually, he and my mom carried it inside as soon as we got home." Gert answered.

"And the girl?" Karolina asked. "You think she's still inside?"

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Only one way to find out."

Santa Monica Freeway...

1:59 a.m.

"I ran away from home, and now I'm running back there?" Gert groaned as she leaned against the inside of the van.

"Well hopefully we don’t get caught, how would we explain all of us meeting up like this." Mac said as he cracked his knuckles sitting at the back of the van.

"This is purely smash-and-grab, Gert." Alex said. "We'll be in and out."

"Please don't say In-N-Out. I'd kill for one of their burgers right now." Nico whined, crossing her hands over her stomach. "I have this thing with stress and food..."

"I’m with Nico," Mac pushed up his sleeves as he puffed out a sigh, “All this sleuthing is making me hungry.”

Karolina sighed as she grabbed the fuzzy dice hanging from Chase's rear-view mirror. "I still think we should have taken my car" She said, "It's less conspicuous than the Shaggin' Wagon here."

"Hardly. Remember those two sniper dudes last year?" Chase smirked. "Everyone in Virginia was looking for one white van, but they couldn't find one 'cause every plumber and electrician and whatever drives one."

"I feel a bit pedo ish in this thing." Mac added from the back.

Gert cocked a brow. "Is anyone else worried that the apple dind't fall far from the tree?"

The Yorkes Residence

2:43 a.m.

The group slowly made their way towards the basement, with Gert leading them. Alex turned around and put his finger to his lips.

"All right, keep the volume on low," He whispered. "We don't wanna wake the big bads."

"Don't worry, my parent's slept through the '94 earthquake." Gert said from ahead of Alex. "Plus, they bought practically the only house in California with a basement in it so I could play drums without ticking off the neighbors."

Just as they got to the bottom of the stairs, Mac saw a huge trove of antiques and other interesting objects.   
"Right?" Karolina said from next to her. it's like a whole season of Antiques Roadshow down here. How are we gonna find anything?"

Gert turned on the light and blinked. "Well, at least I found my accursed glasses, granted, they were in my pocket."

"But no sign of the Pirates Chest." Chase announced ."See, no evidence of nothing!"

"I’m with him." Mac said to the group. "We shouldn’t even be here."

"Well, what if there was a secret passage or something?" Nico asked softly. "Like in Alex's house?"

"Check around for some kind of switch." Alex ordered.

"I told you idiots, we're not going to find anything!"

Karolina had found a keypad. Mac’s heart was pounding. He knew that this was a bad idea  
"Don't touch it." Gert cautioned. "What if you trip off alarms or something?"

Nico walked up to it and peered at the pad. "Looks like you need a five digit password," she said, looking even closer at the keys. "Something with the numbers three, four and seven."

"How can you tell?" Karolina asked.

"Those keys are a smidge darker than the other ones, from the oil on your fingertips." Nico said.

"Get out! That is so C.S.I!" Karolina squealed.

"Are there letters with the numbers?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, like on a phone. Why? What can you spell with those three digits?" Nico asked.

"Pride." Alex said coldly.

"

"The name of their little club? Isn't that a little obvious?" Chase quirked a brow.

"My mom has the same password for everything." Mac shrugged.

"Yeah, like my mom's AOL password is password." Karolina added.

"It's not worth the risk, Alex!" Gert argued. "If my parent's catch us down here, we're dead. Literally. I know I said they where heavy sleepers, but they're not-"

Alex rolled his eyes and turned to Nico. "Try it, Nico. I've got a feeling about this."

"A bad one." Chase muttered.

"Have a little faith in me." Alex persuaded.

"I do, Alex," Nico said as she punched in the letters, "I-." She was cut off by the wall splitting open.

"Whoa!" Nico exclaimed.

"A trapdoor? Are you kidding me?" Gert yelled.

"Well, this is so stupidly super villian." Mac shook his head.

""It worked! It actually-" But Karolina was cut off the appearance of, from the open trapdoor, something large, dark, and dangerous.

It hissed.


End file.
